THE PATH TO PROVINCE-HOOD

1. Balance of Power

Elect some MLAs to be a balance of power between the Government Party and the Official Opposition. This could be only 3 or 4 MLAs. The longer-term goal is to elect 14 MLAs.

Official Party status requires 4 MLAs. The Party is then entitled to have a research budget.

2. Referendum

Request the governing Party in return for VIP MLA support to hold a referendum on Vancouver Island in the 2021 election or before (e.g., in conjunction with municipal elections) with the ballot question. “Are you in favour of Vancouver Island becoming a province of Canada?” “Yes” or “No.”

Repeat the referendum in subsequent provincial elections until the vote is at least 50% + one vote to becoming the eleventh province of Canada.

3. Redistribution

Redistribute and increase the existing 14 provincial electoral districts to as many a 50 smaller electoral districts in line with the 49 electoral districts in New Brunswick, which has a smaller population than Vancouver Island.

This redistribution will be completed in 2022 within six (6) months of the referendum in May of 2021.

4. Government of Vancouver Island

Hold an election on Vancouver Island within six (6) months of the redistribution no later than May of 2022 based on the smaller-sized electoral districts to form a new provincial Government of Vancouver Island.

5. Provincial Terms of Confederation

Negotiate favourable Provincial Terms of Confederation with the Government of Canada by December 31, 2022.

6. Constitution of Canada

Under subsection 42 (1) (f) of the Constitution Act, 1982, new provinces can only be established if the Government of Canada and two-thirds of the provinces (constituting at least 50% of Canada’s population) give their consent.

The VanIsle Party holds the view that the rest of Canada (including the rest of British Columbia, which may also have to petition for re-entry as a province of Canada on its own Provincial Terms of Confederation) would support a democratically elected Government of Vancouver Island in its application to become Canada’s eleventh province, especially when there would be free BC ferries passage for all persons.

Former Prime Minister Paul Marin expressed his support for all three Canadian territories gaining provincial status “eventually.”

With each of the territories’ populations being at least one-seventeenth to one-twentieth of the population of Vancouver Island (765,000), why should Vancouver Island be treated any differently?

Once the application has been approved by May 31, 2023, the Province of Vancouver Island would sign the Constitution of Canada to enter officially the Canadian Confederation as the eleventh province of Canada.

7. Disentanglement

Upon officially entering Canada as its eleventh province, there would be a period of no more than one year by May 31, 2024 during which the Government of the rest of British Columbia (British Columbia Government) would vacate the provincial Legislative Assembly building and government offices.

During this period, the new Government of Vancouver Island would establish its civil service and crown corporations (the provincial “disentanglement” process).

Elections in the province of Vancouver Island would be every four years (unless there was a minority government), with the first election following acceptance of official status as a province of Canada, being in May of 2028, or after four (4) years of becoming a province of Canada, whichever is the sooner.